Page 23 of Slapshot Summer
Lexi’s quirking lips nearly blossomed into a full smile.“Anna.”
“Great.I’m Anna.”In a falsetto, he said, “Lexi, it’s such a beautiful day.Get your lazy bones out of bed and let’s go do something fun.”He batted his lashes for extra effect, then lowered his voice to its normal range.“What would that something fun be?”He was making a complete ass of himself, but Lexi was positively fizzing, so the antics were worth the cost.Besides, he loved how easily he could make her laugh, and it egged him on to try even harder.His chest ballooned.
“Probably having cocktails by the infinity pool … or walking on the beach.What about you?I mean, if you were here with your brother.”
“Same as you.Cocktails by the pool or tossing a football on the beach.”
“I don’t knowhowto toss a football.”
“Then how about we keep it simple and go for a walk on the beach?”
She chewed that bottom lip he was dying to taste again.“I-I guess?”
“Perfect.I just need to change into swim trunks.”He wasn’t going to give her hesitation any room to bloom.
“I should get my hat.”
She had already paid for her meal, so they made their way to the elevators, where they stood in awkward silence.The awkwardness ramped up when Josh spotted Neil strutting through the lobby with adifferentbombshell.Fortunately, Lexi didn’t seem to notice, and when the doors opened, he hurried her inside the car with a nudge to her lower back.As they stepped into the car, they both went for the identical button.
“You’re on the third floor?”they said at the same time.
“Yes, I am,” they answered together before bursting into laughter.
He pressed the button and leaned against the wall opposite her.What he was sure was a goofy grin was plastered on his face.He didn’t take his eyes off her, and she reddened and looked away—so he sneaked in some outright ogling, trailing his gaze from her pretty pink toenails to her lustrous auburn ponytail, lingering in between to make mental notes of her matching bikini bottoms, flat stomach, and the way her top strained to hold her in behind a screen of black mesh.
The black mesh cover-up hit her mid-thigh, exposing her smooth, shapely legs.What it didn’t hide it hinted at, teasing him with velvety curves that made his imagination run amok.Her features were a killer combination that, when put together in one package, added up tostunning.
The earlier image of her locks curling around her perfect breasts made an unexpected appearance in his head, and he shoved his hands in his shorts pockets to keep his dick from standing up and announcing its readiness to play.
Jesus Christ!
What was he, a fifteen-year-old with spiking levels of testosterone?No, dumbshit.You’re a thirty-two-year-old man who reacts to this woman with spiking levels of testosterone.
The elevator doors slid open, and they both headed in the same direction.She stopped in front of a door and waved her key card.“This is me.”
He recorded the room number and pointed down the hall.“I’m just a few doors down in 319.”
“Do you want to wait while I get my hat, then we can go to your room?”
Panic flared inside him as his mind took mental inventory.His tangled sheets were a mess from his extracurricular activities in the middle of the night.He hadn’t expected guests, so one chair was piled with his dirty clothes from yesterday, the other with clean underwear he hadn’t put away yet.He was already pushing uphill to make a good impression, and he didn’t need her thinking—knowing—he was a slob.
“Uh, no.I’ll change into my bathing suit and swing by so we can go down together.”
A shy smile curved her mouth and popped a pair of adorable dimples he hadn’t noticed before.“See you in a few.”
He dashed to his door the moment she disappeared behind hers, his heart chugging like a freight train.In his room, he yanked off his shorts and boxers, adding them to the pile on the chair before skinning on his trunks.
He brushed his teeth again and gave himself a critical going-over in the mirror, disappointed with the reflection looking back at him.Jesus, when was the last time he’d had his hair cut?He hurriedly ran an electric razor over his face, but it didn’t improve much.Then he reminded himself it didn’t matter how he looked.Did it?He wasn’t trying to impress anyone.Merely spending time walking on a beach with a girl he barely knew.
Yeah, right.Keep telling yourself that, bro.
Back at her door, he rapped a little too enthusiastically.She whipped it open with almost as much enthusiasm, a smile brightening her face.She held a wide-brimmed straw hat in one hand.Beyond her, the room expanded into a sumptuous suite in ivory and various shades of blue.More impressive than the room, though, was the lanai and the ocean view beyond.
“Wow!That’s quite a view.”
“I upgraded to a suite when I booked it.Want to take a look?”She opened the door a little wider.
“Yeah.I’d like to see how the other half lives.”Chuckling, he stepped inside, his gaze scanning the tidy living area and the bedroom off to one side.Herbed was neatly made.Good thing he hadn’t invited her back to his place.
